Blizzard Workers Secure Unified Contract Covering 1,900 Employees With New Protections

Blizzard unionized employees across WoW, Overwatch, Diablo, and other units won a single contract that now covers 1,900 workers and extends to all Blizzard unionized teams. The deal includes strong layoff protections (min 4 weeks severance plus up to 39 weeks, with more based on tenure), broad recall rights (into any qualified role for 14 months), just-cause protections, and preserved remote/hybrid work arrangements. It also sets salary floors ($51,840–$70,400 by city) with some raises up to 34%, and establishes AI protections via a labor-management committee to bargain over AI impacts. While not perfect, the contract is framed as a foundation that could raise standards across the gaming industry and signal ongoing pressure on Blizzard and Microsoft to uphold the terms.